KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q125329: Deployment and Troubleshooting Outlook Web Access (OWA)

Article: Q125329
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 26-JUL-2002

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Outlook Web Access, version 5.5 
- Microsoft Outlook Web Access, version 5.5 Service Pack 1 
- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) for Microsoft Exchange Server provides users
access to e-mail, personal calendar, group scheduling, and collaboration
applications on Microsoft Exchange Server with only a Web browser. Outlook Web
Access is implemented by a combination of Microsoft Active Server Pages
technology on the Web server side, and Java controls and scripts downloaded on
demand to the user's Web browser.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Due to this lightweight client design, the only interface end-users must have is
a compatible Web browser, and all the workload of the client is then pushed up
to the Web server running the Outlook Web Access component. This design is
helpful to organizations and users who want a quick, easy access to an Exchange
Server mailbox, while requiring little to no additional software installed on
the client computer. OWA can be a great solution for a kiosk environment, or
simply for users who need quick access to their Exchange Server mailbox without
having a full MAPI client installed.

However, these lightweight clients do force the Web server (which is actually the
computer running Internet Information Server 3.0 or 4.0 with the OWA component
installed), to be responsible for handling all the client connections. In
essence, each Web client to connect is another MAPI session to be created on the
OWA server, and in each of these sessions, we ask the OWA server to poll the
Exchange Server computer for the data, and then render results back to the Web
browser. This additional workload on a Web server should be planned for before
deploying OWA. Then after deployment, you should monitor your OWA server
workload to ensure user access to the Web server is not overwhelming the
server.

For more information on deploying Microsoft Outlook Web Access, and for
troubleshooting an existing OWA deployment, please see the Outlook Deployment
and Troubleshooting Guide white paper on:

  http://support.microsoft.com/support/exchange/content/whitepapers/whitepapers.asp


Additional query words: owa tshooter whitepaper

======================================================================
Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbOutlookSearch kbZNotKeyword6 kbExchangeSearch kbExchange550 kbExchangeClientSearch kbZNotKeyword2 kbOWASearch kbOWA550 kbOWA550SP1
Version           : :5.5
Issue type        : kbinfo

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.